When I first got into the genre I used movie soundtracks as my main source for finding new indie bands. Often mainstream movie directors will use independent artists to enhance their films.
Sidenote: I’m currently reading Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity, which was made into a movie starring John Cusak, and it did have a good soundtrack and introduced me to The Beta Band… but I digress. In honour of protagonist Rob Flemming, here are my top 5 soundtracks within the last 10 years:
1. Garden State
2. Almost Famous
3. Once
4. Into The Wild
5. O Brother Where Art Thou?
After movie soundtracks I moved to the Internet to try and broaden my indie pallete. I came across a few good sources. The Internet I should mention is cluttered with SO much information that sometimes it’s hard to sift through it all to find the real gems. Sticking with the list theme, I have come up with a top 5 list of the best indie music sources on the net.
1. INSOUND.com This is hands down the best music store on the net. They have superior customer service often giving away free CD’s and posters, and a phenominal staff who actually really care about the music! They will send you a free seasonal catalogue featuring the more popular indie bands releasing albums this coming year. They also feature independent lable ads who advertise their soon t0 be released artists. It has truly been an amazing experience and source.
2.PANDORA.com (if outside the US click here)
You type in the band you are interested in and Pandora will search it’s databases matching up styles, sounds, techniques, etc. to find you a bunch of similar artists. You can create as many free radio stations as you want and sample tons of good bands. The only downside is that the American Music Industry sucks and anyone outside of Canada can’t enjoy this service anymore. They can however view Pandora’s Backstage which essentially gives you the same info but you can’t listen to the music.
3. LAST.fm
Perhaps the replacement to Pandora, Last.fm lets you log on and add favourite artists. It will also make recommendations on similar sounding bands. You can also sample the music and Last.fm will create radio stations with your inputs that you can stream over the Internet. Pandora.com offered a more eclectic selection but Last.fm is still very good.
4. Google “INDIE MUSIC BLOGS”
Self-explanatory, downside is that you have to sift through the results. I have posted some of my favourite blogs on the blogroll on the right.
5. iTUNES STORE
Not only is the iTunes Store a good place to buy digital music, it’s a great source in finding new bands. There are a couple of good features that Apple has implemented that are great for discovering new bands. The first is if you click on an artist or an album you like the iTunes Store will show other songs, artists, and albums that other people have purchased or artists that they have flagged as being similar. The store also has a variety of iMix’s from it’s customers, celebrities, as well as, genre based lists. The best part of it all… is that you can sample 30 seconds of EVERY song hassel free!
RUNNER UP: AMAZON.com
Very similar to the iTunes music store, but I find it harder to sample individual songs. The plus is that they have better reviews.
Lastly, you should hit up local University/College newspaper publications and radio stations. They often review and play indie music, while showcasing good local talent. Often I will check local concert venues and music festivals for bands as well. Diving into your local scene will definately help your music exploration. Often the best finds and advice can be found in your local hole-in-the-wall record shop.
Happy exploring,
~TJK
